The sharpest rise was in forgery and false instruments, up 200% between January and June. “Deception or other” offences rose by 178%, while online shopping and auction scams climbed 166%. Money laundering was also up by 82%, and reports of bogus tradesmen increased by 57%. Accommodation-related fraud rose by 22%, while “account takeover” offences were up 18%.

Not all categories showed growth. Phishing, vishing and smishing incidents dropped by 26%, while counterfeit note and coin cases fell sharply by 88%. Insurance fraud was also down by 45%.

Beyond fraud, arson recorded the second-highest increase of any crime, up 20% on the same period in 2024. Other forms of criminal damage, excluding arson, fell by 14%.

Sexual offences presented a mixed picture. Reports of child abuse material and other related crimes dropped by 16%, yet overall sexual offences increased. Garaí recorded a 4% rise in rape reports and a 7% rise in non-aggravated sexual assaults.

In terms of road safety, overall traffic collisions decreased by 2%, with just over 22,100 reported by the end of June. However, offences of driving while intoxicated rose by 8%.

From January to June, gardaí made more than 27,000 arrests and created over 67,000 criminal charges. More than 6.500 referrals were made to the Juvenile Diversion Programme under the Children’s Act 2001.

The provisional figures are subjected to revision, with final crime statistics published quarterly by the Central Statistics Office.